Those are some great photos. Here are a couple from my collection of Vought photos

This is Paul Thayer who at the time I believe was President of Vought and later became Chairman and CEO. He is also the one that crashed the CAF's FG-1D Corsair when he took it for a test flight right after Vought restored it.

Thanks Connery for those images. The F7U-3 overhead view is interesting in that the canopy and frame is the bulb nosed version and not the one normally seen with the revised nose contours. Can you read the BuNo on your original images?

First off, I'll add one more of the F7U-1 on the Vought ramp - there's Globe Swifts, Corsairs and C-54s (being converted back to civilian guise). Quite a variety of projects going on in the same space to keep business and the work force going.

Next. I'll step back in time to the beginning of Vought and the VE-7, Vought's first production aircraft.

and the VE-7 being one of the early aircraft operated off of the Navy's first carrier, the USS Langley...

And one image of the first Corsair...

Now back to the "normal" sequence of things. The Regulus I was initially nuclear tipped cruise missile for use off a select number of cruisers and submarines. After the withdrawal of the Regulus I as a cruise missile, many were converted to target drones. My Father flew for VU-1 out of NAS Barbers Point on Oahu, Hawaii and one of his assigned missions was as a drone controller flying a DF-8A Crsudaer and guiding the Regulus I from its launch at Barking Sands out to where it was used in fleet exercises. The red Regulus I is a fleet training missile and is seen on the deck of the USS Hornet - these were launched using this cart off of the catapult. Cruiser, sub and drone launches were accomplished with RATO bottles mounted along the sides aft of the wing (note it is a tailless aircraft). The blue Regulus I is a former nuke armed missile - the deeper chin under the inlet is how to tell the "one way" missiles from the FTM missiles which had landing gear for potential landing and reuse.

Here's a photo from the photos my Father had and shows one of VU-1s F-8As along with a "one way" Regulus I which also flew on the missions as a shooter should the missile do something stupid or not be destroyed during the exercise (which apparently was rather often). The certificate is from Vought for those who passed the training....

How can I get the history of a particular Regulus I missile? I did some restoration work on a Regulus I which now resides at a museum in Charlotte, NC. All I remember is that it was an FTM , #89. "Ship no. #89" was written on the carry-through spar in large, beautiful handwriting.
The book about the Regulus is by David K. Stumpf. I have a copy.
#89 had landing gear (removed) and was sitting on the carrier launch rig.

Okay, dinner's over and back to airplanes. Several questions for anybody who can answer.

On the Seawolf. When did the XTBU-1, Vought design change to TBY-1, a Consolidated designation?

On the OS2U landing pictures, is the cable ahead of the aircraft and the contraption on the surface the rigging for a "cast landing?" I heard some tales about that procedure while doing research for the battleship TEXAS restoration 18-20 years ago. Even published one story about a botched OS2U recovery by that ship.

Dash 5N Corsairs! Lone Star thanks you.

That corncob powered test job made out of the XTBU was a wild looking ride! Whatever became of it?

In the F7U sequence, what is the twin prop job the Cutlass is fueling from?
Doug

Next in line of the Vought fighters is the F7U Cutlass. The F7U-1 and the later and more developed F7U-3 are considerably different beasts as you can see. There's an excellent new book titled "U.S. NAVAL AIR SUPERIORITY: Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters 1943-1962" that notes the F7U-3 would likely have had a far better reputation if it had not been for its engines (true for about every Navy jet fighter of that time period) and the straight deck environment aboard carrier. The angled deck simply came too late for the Cutlass. All the same, I find it an impressive aircraft and when you get up next to one (Pensacola and Tom Catchcart's machine out in Seattle come to mind), it really is a beaut of brute.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

and the rather rare F7U-3P...

Great shot of the F7U-3P Photo-Cutlass Mark. Do you have any shots that show the overwing photoflash ejector racks installed? I am trying to add them to my 1/72 model of the F7U-3P, and I can't find any references.

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